Bridging a Wall of Isolation

Adam and Eve realized they were outside of God's favor after ignoring the boundaries set for them in the Garden. With a strange, new self-consciousness of guilt and shame, they covered their bodies and hid from God. They were now aware that their choices resulted in their loss of freedom and that forgiveness was the way for regaining that freedom.

Appropriate guilt and shame as well as empathy for the offended person creates the will to earnestly push toward forgiveness. If denials and rationalizations are allowed to overrule reality, then a wall of isolation gets constructed that will endanger a relationship.

 

Acknowledgment of an offense doesn't guarantee reconciliation. However, it gives the offender the option to seek forgiveness with hopes for reconciliation. Choosing to forgive or not to forgive is a choice between good and evil, but choosing forgiveness is choosing freedom from the burden of guilt and shame. The Holy Spirit creates in you the desire to seek forgiveness.  

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O Lord, our God, you answered your people; you showed them that you are a God who forgives, even though you punished them for their sins.

~Psalm 99:8 Good News Bible

So I confessed my sins and told them all to you. I said, “I’ll tell the Lord each one of my sins.” Then you forgave me and took away my guilt.

~Psalm 32:5 Contemporary English Version

Make Me a Blessing to God and Others

Living life so you can be a blessing to others is a treasure of great value. Listen to the prayer of Jabez from 1 Chronicles 4:9 as he asks God for such a blessing. "Oh, that you would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that your hand would be with me to keep me from evil, so that I might not cause pain to others."

 

Jacob had been a source of pain to his family of origin. Following his forced exodus from his home, he had spent twenty years working for his father-in-law. Perhaps he had matured by facing the responsibilities of work, two wives, two surrogate wives, eleven sons and one daughter.

Jacob would prove to be a blessing to his father-in-law, yet the time came when he was ready to face his past so he could move forward with his life.  Perhaps God communicated to him, "I have plans for you, so get your mind focused on what lies ahead." Jacob's future included being a blessing to God. Is God nudging you onward so you can be a blessing to Him and others?